By: Sindy
Drake Bell stars in the new comedy Superhero Movie. Kidzworld had a chance to talk to this funny, young actor.
Sindy: It's been a little while since we've talked to you, Drake and Josh has just completed a very successful run and you were just nominated for another Nickelodeon Kids Choice award. Congratulations.
Drake Bell: Thanks a lot.
Sindy: 2008 marks a big year for you as you move onto the big screen. How did starring in Superhero Movie compare to the work you've done in the past?
Drake Bell: Yeah, well I guess it was the first movie where I was on basically every page. I was working 19 hour days, in the Dragonfly costume all the time. It was completely different really than everything I've ever done. Doing all the stunts and the fight scenes and getting to work with comic legends like David Zucker and Leslie Nielsen was just really really cool. Drake and Josh was strictly nine to five. We'd go in and know what we were doing and Superhero Movie was just nuttiness every day, because there's a joke every ten seconds. We're writing stuff and vibing on set, it's a whole different ballgame.
Sindy: Superhero movie comes from a long line of spoof films. Have you always been a fan of that kind of movie?
Drake Bell: I grew up on that stuff man. I love Airplane, the Naked Gun films, everything the Zucker brothers have done is just awesome. I really liked the original Scary Movie too. Leslie Nielsen was my favorite growing up, getting to work with him was amazing.
Sindy: We talked to Sara Paxton and she told us a little about the movie, how it's spoofing the Spiderman story with her as the Mary Jane character and you as The Dragonfly.
Drake Bell: Yeah, that's basically it, I mean we spoof every superhero movie. Like we spoof Batman Begins because my parents die the same way Bruce Wayne’s parents die but in a very comical, slapstick way. The guy who played Ted Striker on Airplane, Robert Hays, is my dad which is awesome. I'm a kid that's a nerd at school and I get these superpowers and fight The Hourglass, played by Christopher McDonald, who is the CEO of a pharmaceutical company who’s sick so he invents a machine that sucks the life out of people, but then I come and save the day.
Sindy: Even since being on The Amanda Show you've seem really comfortable doing comedy and especially physical comedy. Does that come easy for you?
Drake Bell: I mean, I grew up on Jerry Lewis, and Abbot and Costello, the Marx Brothers. I just studied it and loved it while I was growing up. It's something I've always been drawn too, the slapstick.
Sindy: The film has a great cast, what was it like working with so many funny people? Any crazy stories?
Drake Bell: Oh yeah there was a lot of improv, but it was mostly done where we would improv a bit and say “Oh that was great!” and we'd write it in. Leslie is amazing to work with, he's so funny. He still has that fart machine he has on every movie, so in the middle of takes he’d play with it. He’s a little old man with a fart machine and thinks it's the funniest thing. Sara Paxton was great, and Chris McDonald, I've been such a huge fan of his for such a long time.
Sindy: Do you plan to continue working on more films in the future?
Drake Bell: Sure, I mean I love television. I love working in TV. I'd love to do another series one day, but I do love working in film. It's just really great.
Sindy: What about music? I know that's been a huge part of your life. Any musical projects in 2008?
Drake Bell: I'm actually just in the studio recording my record right now, working on some new material and putting that together. Maybe by the end of the year, or early next year.
Sindy: Thanks Drake. We can't wait to see and hear more from you in the future.
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